In the summer of 2007, the national news was flush with stories about the brutal slayings of Nancy and Daniel Benoit at the hands WWE Superstar Chris Benoit. The wrestling world was stunned and horrified that a man known for his even temper and love for his family could murder his wife and young son.
After all, Chris Benoit was known as a consummate professional and, more importantly, a kind, soft-spoken man. In the days, weeks, months, and years following the crimes, friends, family, and associates of Benoit would struggle to understand what could make the gentle giant snap in such a horrific way.
Was it steroids? Human growth hormone? Drugs and alcohol? Stress? Family dynamics? People needed answers so they could somehow make peace with what happened, move on, and view the Benoit murders as some sort of cautionary tale.
Almost 14 years after Chris Benoit killed his wife and young son, what happened is still a popular subject of speculation, and some believe Chris was not responsible for the crimes at all. There are several theories that paint Chris as a victim, not a murderer. Whether those theories hold any water or not, there are many questions surrounding the events of June 22, 2007.
Let’s take a brief look at how Chris Benoit became the famous Canadian Crippler. And then we’ll take a look at the timeline of how the murders unfolded.
Chris Benoit Determined to Succeed
The man often described as the world’s best technical wrestler came into the world on May 21, 1967. Born to Michael and Margaret Benoit in Montreal, Quebec, Chris Benoit was bitten by the wrestling bug at an early age and idolized the Dynamite Kid, stylizing his own moves after the Kid’s. Chris Benoit debuted in the ring on November 22, 1985 in Calgary, Alberta. In 2000, Chris, now a fast-rising star, debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
The WWF and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) are technically the same company. The name was changed after the World Wildlife Fund claimed that the initials “WWF” belonged solely to the conservation group.) Chris grew into a massive superstar because of his technical abilities and fearless willingness to sacrifice his body in order to audiences breathless. That fearlessness leads to multiple concussions. According to Chris, he had endured more concussions than he could count.
Personal Life of Chris Benoit
Chris Benoit was married twice in his lifetime. His first marriage produced two children, David (born in 1993) and Megan (born in 1997). It was wrestling that brought Chris into contact with his second wife, Nancy, but it would be years before the couple would walk down the aisle. In 1985, Nancy, whose last name at the time was Daus, married wrestler Kevin Sullivan. At the time, Nancy and Sullivan were working in the WCW, and Nancy was known as “Woman,” a ruthless manager in the wrestling industry, as well as a “booker.”
Sullivan dreamed up a story angle in which Chris and Woman have a lurid on-screen affair. In the process, Chris and Nancy grew close, fell in love, and entered into a real-life affair. We’ll talk more about Nancy and Sullivan’s marriage later. In 2000, Chris and Nancy married and had their only child, Daniel.
Thursday, June 21, 2007, appeared to start out just like any other in the Benoit home. [7] With July 4 right around the corner, Chris phoned his good friend James Robison in Peachtree City, Georgia.
The Benoit family traditionally spent the holiday with Robison, who was kind enough to reserve a distant parking spot for the Benoits so they could watch fireworks away from autograph-seeking fans. The call was intended to confirm their plans.
At that point, nothing seemed amiss.
Said, Robison:
“It was a typical conversation. There were no signs of trouble. So I was just completely shocked about what happened. There was nothing you could look back on that indicated he wanted to say goodbye.”
Saturday, June 23, 2007
If there was one thing that Chris Benoit was known for, it was his professionalism. Being a professional wrestler meant being on the road for long stretches of time, with only a few weeks off in the course of a year. Chris, whose life revolved around the business, was known for never missing a show.
That is why red flags immediately went up when a co-worker received a voicemail from Chris around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 23, saying that he overslept and would be late to the WWE SmackDown live event in Beaumont, Texas.
The co-worker dialed Chris’ phone number and heard the Canadian Crippler’s tired, groggy voice on the other end of the line confirm everything he’d said in the voicemail. More red flags went up, however, when Chris ended the call with, “I love you.” Chris was known to be a caring and loyal friend, but the sign-off was uncharacteristic of him. Concerned for Chris’ well-being, the co-worker phoned Chris for a second time but received no answer, so he left a message: “Just call me back.”
At 3:44 p.m., Chris returned the call, stating that he didn’t answer because he was busy changing his flight with Delta. It hadn’t been a good day, he said; Nancy and Daniel had been woefully ill with food poisoning. Chris sounded exhausted and frustrated. But there was no sign that he was planning on ending his life or the lives of his wife and child. He discussed with his co-worker plans for the next WWE Tour of Texas.
WWE started getting worried by his texts
At 4:30 p.m., one of Chris’ co-workers and traveling companions phoned Chris from outside the Houston airport. Chris told that person, too, that Nancy and Daniel were sick with food poisoning. He said that Daniel had been throwing up and that Nancy had been throwing up blood. Chris informed his co-worker that he had changed his flight and would be arriving in Houston at 6:30 p.m., and told him to go to the event without him.
At 5:35 p.m., Chris phoned WWE Talent Relations and told them that Daniel was vomiting and that he and Nancy were at the hospital with him. He would be taking a later flight into Houston, he said, but would make the event in Beaumont.
A representative of Talent Relations called Chris at 6:10 p.m. to inquire about what time Chris expected to arrive in Beaumont. Chris told him he would be leaving Atlanta at 9:20 p.m. ET and arriving in Houston at 9:24 CT. The representative informed him that it would be too late for him to make the show in Beaumont and suggested he fly to Houston, get some rest, and try to make it to the Vengeance Pay-Per-View event.
WWE workers received a strange text from Benoit
Just three minutes later, at 6:13, the Talent Relations rep called Chris to confirm his updated travel plans. Chris did not answer the phone. The rep left a voicemail message instructing Chris to take the flight to Houston and rest up.
Sunday, June 24, 2007 The time was 3:53 a.m. Both of the co-workers Chris spoke with the day before received text messages from Chris’ cellphone, the first one including his home address, and the second one stating: “The dogs are in the enclosed pool area. Garage side door is open.”
One minute later, the co-workers again received two texts with Chris’ home address. This time, however, the texts originated from Nancy’s cellphone. At 3:58 a.m., the co-worker Chris frequently traveled with — the same one he spoke to the day previous — received the text with Chris’ home address. By this point, WWE employees were growing increasingly concerned about what was happening in the Benoit household. It was unlike Chris to miss a show, but the texts were especially unnerving. Why would anyone need his home address and instructions for avoiding/finding the dogs?
Moreover, WWE made several attempts to contact Chris via phone and text message. They even went as far as contacting hospitals in the Atlanta area to find out if their superstar and his family were OK. They were never able to connect with Chris.
Monday, June 25, 2007
It was around lunchtime when WWE was notified about the cryptic text messages. At 12:45 p.m., WWE contacted the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office and requested a welfare check at the Benoit residence. Just shy of four hours later, at 4:00 p.m., the sheriff’s office contacted WWE. They notified them that upon answering the Benoit house, they discovered the deceased bodies of an adult male, an adult woman, and male a child. The house was secured as a “major crime scene,” the sheriff’s office said, but they could not provide any further information.
A Shocking Crime
When the police were finally sent to the Benoit home to check on its occupants, they found a shocking and gruesome scene. Chris Benoit, wife Nancy, and son Daniel were all dead. [9] What’s worse, police determined that it was Chris who killed his family before taking his own life. And it didn’t happen in the course of a few minutes or even a few hours, but potentially over the course of days.
Moreover, investigators determined that Chris killed Nancy first, on Friday, June 22. Her body was found with her wrists and ankles bound and covered with a white sheet in a room of the house. She had died of asphyxiation. Bruises on her back and stomach led investigators to conclude that Chris had killed her by pressing his knee into her back and pulling a cord around her neck. A Bible was found at Nancy’s side.
Moreover, Chris then turned his attention to his young son, who was also found with a Bible near his body. Chris killed Daniel with a choke hold in the child’s own bedroom. Scott Ballard explained that “the boy had internal injuries to the throat area, but showed no bruises.” It’s unclear when Daniel was killed.
Daniel was also found to have needle marks in his arm. It was theorized early on that Chris may have been injecting his son, who was small in stature like his father, with growth hormone. It was initially reported that Daniel suffered from Fragile X syndrome, but this was later proven to be false. In fact, while Daniel may have been smaller than some other children his age, he was, in fact, completely healthy and “normal.”
Chris Benoit – Family Annihilator
Moreover, Chris Benoit — husband, father, family annihilator — was found hanging by the cord of a weight machine in the basement. He committed suicide. When Benoit released the weights, he was strangled to death by the more than 240 pounds attached to it. Chris had removed the pull-down bar and was found seated against the machine. Autopsies of the bodies showed that Nancy had hydrocodone (an opiate painkiller), hydromorphine (an opiate painkiller), and Xanax (a benzodiazepine anti-anxiety drug) in her system when she died. All three drugs were tested at therapeutic levels. This means Nancy was taking them as prescribed, not using them recreationally or abusing them.
Moreover, Nancy’s blood-alcohol level was 0.184. But it was unclear if Nancy had consumed any alcohol prior to her death or if that number was simply a result of the post-mortem process. One thing was clear, however: Chris had not sedated his wife before he murdered her. The same could not be said for Daniel. The little boy had Xanax in his system, a drug not typically prescribed for children. The one tiny mercy Chris afforded his son was that he sedated him before killing him. Unfortunately, Daniel couldn’t be tested for steroids or human growth hormones due to a lack of urine.
Moreover, therapeutic levels of Xanax and hydrocodone were also found in Chris’ system. He did have elevated levels of testosterone cypionate in his urine. This suggested that it had been taken not long before his suicide. No evidence of steroids, alcohol, or GHB were found in his blood. It is believed that Chris took his own life that Monday.
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